LOS ANGELES.–Two foreign policy advisers to 78-year-old President Donald Trump, Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg and Fred Feitz, both on Trump’s National Security Council, offered a plan to end the Ukraine War saying that Ukraine must submit to peace talks with the Kremlin or lose its government and war funding, if the Kiev refuses to join the peace talks. “I’m not claiming he [Trump] agreed with it or agreed with every word of it, but we were pleased to get the feedback we did,” said Feitz. Trump has said he would quickly end the Ukraine War, within 24 hours of taking office, but has been reluctant to offer a detailed plan of how he would get it done. Ukraine’s 46-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he’s not sure what Trump would do to end the war but didn’t think it was possible. Zelensky wants Russian President Vladimir Putin to get out of Ukraine.
Presenting a plan before the June 27 CNN debate, throws down the gauntlet for Biden, knowing that he do anything possible to avoid talking about Ukraine. Biden has said he agrees with Zelensky’s 10-point plan to end the war requiring Russia to remove all troops out of Ukraine and Putin to be prosecuted for war crimes at The Hague’s International Criminal Court. What kinds of conditions are those for ending the war? Kellogg and Feitz wanted to make concrete Trump promise of ending the conflict, making it look like Zelensky would have to play ball or potentially lose his U.S. funding. Biden signed a 10-year security pact June 13 with Ukraine, signaling that for the duration of any second term he would continue funding proxy war against the Kremlin. Biden’s proxy war in Ukraine has cost the U.S. dearly in terms of foreign policy and national security.
State Department officials have little or no clout to accomplish any bilateral deals with the Russian Federation, especially to get out U.S. citizens imprisoned in Russian jails. Biden said he’s doing everything possible to get U.S. citizens out of Russian jails. But going to war against the Kremlin, ending generations of diplomacy, détente and arms control, have hampered the State Department’s attempts to cut deals with Russia on anything. Kellogg and Feitz wanted to put a concrete proposal together, hoping to contrast Trump’s approach to the Kremlin over Biden’s continued proxy war. “We tell the Ukrainians: ‘You’ve got to come to the table, and if you don’t come to the table, support from the United States will dry up,’” Kellogg and Feitz said. “And you tell Russian President Vladimir Putin: ‘He’s got to come to the table and if you don’t come to the table, the we’ll give Ukrainians everything they need to kill you in the field.’”
It’s inconceivable that Trump would threaten Putin at all but let all parties know the U.S. is serious about playing peacemaker. Telling Putin Trump would arm Ukrainians to get Russia to the peace table would be counterproductive, even backfire on U.S. officials. Kellogg and Feitz don’t get that part of the luxury of being Trump is having enough of a relationship with Putin to sell him on the idea of going to the peace table. No need to threaten Russia because Putin has said on repeated occasions he’s like to end the conflict, just not on Zelensky’s unrealistic terms. Zelensky wants Putin prosecuted for war crimes and to remove all Russian troops from Ukraine, including the Crimean Pensinsula. Putin isn’t about to hand Crime to Zelensky’s U.S.-backed Kiev regime. Kellogg and Feitz say they would put on hold indefinitely Zelensky’s request for NATO membership.
Whatever the details that must be worked out, it’s unlikely to come up in Thursday night’s CNN debate. CNN’s debate moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash won’t do anything to make Biden look like a warmonger. Biden already signed a 10-year security pact with Zelensky, making clear his commitment to continuing the war. Kellogg and Feitz’s plan leave much to be desired, especially the part of threatening to give Ukraine all the weapons it needs if Putin doesn’t come to the peace table. Trump would have unfettered access to Putin, just like he did when he was president for his four years. U.S. press criticized Trump for making secret deals with Putin and putting U.S. national security at risk. Well, with Biden funding proxy war against the Kremlin, who’s the one that puts U.S. national security at risk? Biden’s Ukraine policy has increased the chances of WW III.
Showing that Biden plans to follow the Hillary Clinton model in the debate, he plans to accuse Trump of inappropriate relations with Putin. “Donald Trump heaps praise on Vladimir Putin every chance he gets, and he’s made clear he won’t stand against Putin or stand up for democracy,” said Biden campaign Spokesman James Singer. Singer’s remarks are exactly why Biden has all but wrecked U.S.-Russian relations and why, under Trump’s four years, the U.S. got along with its foreign adversaries. Today, Biden had wrecked U.S.-Russian relations, gone to war in Ukraine against the Kremlin and ended decades of diplomacy, détente and arms control making the world a safer place from nuclear weapons. Trump’s plan to end the Ukraine War offer the world an off-ramp to the dangerous escalation that has ended generations of arms control and world peace.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
